Leaving my external HD on overnight...

SLLAB02 · 04-07-2007, 04:09 AM

....is it a bad idea? I have a brand new Western Digital 250 GB My Book and I presume there will be a few scenarios in the future where I'll either forget to turn it off or want to copy files for a long period of time. I can't find a utility that will allow for a timed shut off. Is there a way that I can configure my comp to shut it down after, say, two hours? If not, is leaving it on overnight harmful?

liquidshadow · 04-07-2007, 04:50 AM

No, it's fine. An external HDD is essentially a regular hard drive just packed into an enclosure.

**The_Other_One** · 04-07-2007, 04:50 AM

Does that enclosure have a fan in it? I mean, for the most part, it wouldn't be any different than if it were in your computer... But of course, if it's fairly sealed with no air flow, such a long period could generate a fair amount of heat. You'd probably be fine a few times, but I would try to limit it...

As for shutting it down, I know you can spin drives down under power management after a certain amount of time, but I don't know if USB drives are included...

kesava8@hotmail. · 04-07-2007, 12:56 PM

Yeah, as : The Other One said. It probably doesnt matter that much and it should be able to handle it. Nut it still probably isnt that good for it.

Sacrinyellow5 · 04-07-2007, 02:45 PM

I have 4 externals 2 with fans and 2 without. I also invested in a small plug in fan, which you can find at any dollar store. I run that on the 2HD's that have no fans when needing to keep them on for a while. So far it seems to work pretty well. The HD is also a 250 gb and I have an additional 40 gb drive.

**oscaryu1** · 04-07-2007, 09:53 PM

yes a fan is essential, and if its a quality made hdd no probs at all. just remember to make sure the fan is working at all times, so it dont overheat or worse, good luck1

04-07-2007, 04:09 AM	#1 (permalink)
SLLAB02 Bronze Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Chicago, IL Age: 25 Posts: 93	Leaving my external HD on overnight... ....is it a bad idea? I have a brand new Western Digital 250 GB My Book and I presume there will be a few scenarios in the future where I'll either forget to turn it off or want to copy files for a long period of time. I can't find a utility that will allow for a timed shut off. Is there a way that I can configure my comp to shut it down after, say, two hours? If not, is leaving it on overnight harmful? __________________ --Jack AMD Athlon 64, 3000+ \| 1.81 GHz \| 1.5 GB RAM NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache Windows XP Home SP 2

04-07-2007, 04:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
liquidshadow Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 1,040	No, it's fine. An external HDD is essentially a regular hard drive just packed into an enclosure. __________________ [SIZE="1"]Intel Q6600 \| D-Tek Fuzion Block Asus P5K Deluxe \| Swiftech MCR320 Rad G-Skill 4GB \| Swiftech MCRES-MICRO Res WD Raptor 150 \| EK FC8800 GTX Block Seagate 320GB \| 3 * Yate Loon DM12SL Samsung S182 \| Swiftech MCP655 Pump Coolmax 700W Antec P180b NOW PARTING OUT, PM ME

04-07-2007, 04:50 AM	#3 (permalink)
The_Other_One Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lexington, NC Age: 25 Posts: 13,418	Does that enclosure have a fan in it? I mean, for the most part, it wouldn't be any different than if it were in your computer... But of course, if it's fairly sealed with no air flow, such a long period could generate a fair amount of heat. You'd probably be fine a few times, but I would try to limit it... As for shutting it down, I know you can spin drives down under power management after a certain amount of time, but I don't know if USB drives are included... __________________ Primary- i7 920 \| 6GB RAM \| 9800GT \| 160+160+500GB Secondary- Athlon X2 4200 \| 2GB RAM \| 7600GT \| 80+250GB Netbook - Atom N280 \| 2GB RAM \| GMA945\| 160GB

04-07-2007, 02:45 PM	#5 (permalink)
Sacrinyellow5 Platinum Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: St. Louis Posts: 927	I have 4 externals 2 with fans and 2 without. I also invested in a small plug in fan, which you can find at any dollar store. I run that on the 2HD's that have no fans when needing to keep them on for a while. So far it seems to work pretty well. The HD is also a 250 gb and I have an additional 40 gb drive. __________________ Harvey Pekar "Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff" ------------------------------------------------- -Tower /AMD 64x2 Dual Core 4400+ (2.3Ghz) 3 GB DDR2/Geforce 8600GT(SSC)/160 SATA HD/DVD-RW/Vista Home -Laptop /Core 2 Duo T6460 (1.66Ghz)/2 GB DDR2/Intel GMA X3100/250 SATA HD/Vista Premium -Server /P4 2.26 Ghz/1 GB Ram/GeForce FX 5200/80 & 250GB HDx2/500 GB External HD/DVD-RW/XP -MAC G4-QS (2x1Gz)/1.5 GB Ram/GeForce TI 4600/40 GB & 2x120GB HD/DVD-RW/OSX Go Cards!

04-07-2007, 09:53 PM	#6 (permalink)
oscaryu1 Moderator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Age: 14 Posts: 10,640	yes a fan is essential, and if its a quality made hdd no probs at all. just remember to make sure the fan is working at all times, so it dont overheat or worse, good luck1 __________________ Q6600 P45-DS3R 2x 2GB AMPx DDR2-1066 CL5 Western Digital Caviar 8MB 160GB SATAII HIS Radeon HD4870 512MB PCI-E 2.0 w/ Zalman ZF1000 DVD Burner SATAII hec 600W Dual Rail PSU Gigabyte ATX Case

04-07-2007, 12:56 PM	#4 (permalink)
kesava8@hotmail. banned Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 216	Yeah, as : The Other One said. It probably doesnt matter that much and it should be able to handle it. Nut it still probably isnt that good for it.

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